Itami city in Hyogo
Prefecture is famous as the birthplace of refined sake, or simply sake. Before
the debut of sake, only white murky unrefined sake was available. Sake was born
in Itami city thanks to technological innovation, and it got a burst of popularity
in Edo (currently Tokyo). Founded as a drug seller in Itami city in 1550,
Konishi Brewing is now famous nationwide for its Shirayuki (White snow) brand
sake. Konishi’s sake got a burst of popularity in Edo despite its high price,
and the family head decided to focus on sake brewery in 1612, withdrawing from
the drug sales business completely.
However, Itami’s
prosperity did not last long because Kobe also succeeded in producing sake.
Kobe was in a better position than Itami to ship sake to Edo because it is a
port city. Actually, sake brewed in Kobe took the Edo market by storm,
replacing Konishi. Konishi formulated various measures to overcome the hard
times. It opened a sake wholesaler in Edo in 1694 to expand the nation’s
largest market even more seriously. Actually, it is the first sake brewery that
entered into the wholesaling business. At the same time, it started the
transportation business and established a business model that covers
production, distribution, and marketing. Because Konishi’s rivals had to pay
margins to such middlemen as distributors and wholesalers, Konishi successfully
maintained competitive edge and secured a high profit margin even in the
panicky selling. And it loaned the accumulated capital to lords and retailers
of the shogun across the country.
In the Meiji
Restoration in 1869, the head of the 11th generation started the banking
business and railway construction business in addition to building two sake-brewing
plants in China. Konishi started to market Belgium beer in 1988. The head of
the 15th generation became president in 1991. Under his leadership, Konishi is
aggressively expanding the beer business. Beer sales currently account for only
10% of Konishi’s total sales, but it is trying rather hard to increase beer sales.
Diversifying into different business fields is accompanied by risks, but
Konishi tries to develop a new field without sacrificing the spirit of
protecting the tradition. The principle of fluidity and
immutability always exists in the sprint of Konishi.